Belfin Island
Belfin Island was once the prospering seat of House Falrevere's vassal, House Tidesdale, until the Third War hit and it was put under militant control. After the cataclysm, militant forces have left and the island's civilization lays in ruins. With the Western Seas Expedition, lead by Sir Thomas Balamont DeFortiere it was captured by the Ashen Coast. History Discovered seventy-five years before the first war, Belfin Isle was given to its pioneers, the Tidesdales, and became a major island (Viscounty) after the Grand Alliance's forming to soldify Kul Tiras more income. Relatively unspoken of, as it rarely did anything but serve its purpose and kept its self out of controversy, Belfin Isle was only assaulted by one orcish raid during the entire second and third war and left alone by the Scourge. Loyal to the end, the Tidesdales secretly let the former Duke Falrevere shelter his new pirates on the island, and as such were given a cut. Once the Tirassian government found out, Lord Clynton Tidesdale warned his Liege, preventing his allies from certain death though securing his own. Only a single Tidesdale remained after the Royal Fleet took over the island, while the rest of the nobility were switched to higher, lower, and sunken stations depending on their loyalty and gold. There was virtually no official crime in Belfin after this, due to heavy miltiary presence. After the Cataclysm, a massive earthquake caused debris to crush parts of Tidehaven. Although the village took little damage from it, and many were able to escape into the upper echelons, the upper swamp overflowed and flooded the city, killing 25% of the civilian population and 85% of the militant presence. The upper echelons were saved through sorcerous magic, namely those of Tirassian mages, though such facts were largely ignored. Taking this as his chance, Jedediah Tidesdale rallied the demoted nobility, and former nobility, to his cause and killed the new-found and "Traitor" families. Three of the five Tidesdale-loyal noble houses were slain in their Rebellion, with the fourth left terribly off. Afterwards, the inner-mountain city of Haelin was constructed for the lower classes. Writing to Plunder Isle for assistance, the Bloodsail Buccaneers sent Corsair Captains to the Island to affirm their loyalty. Shocked by the utter destruction of Tidehaven, the pirates were wary at first, but the heavy force of waters had uncovered not silver, but gold and lead aplenty. These new supplies were hastily dried up, but more bases were needed if the Stranglethorn campaigns were to fail. The day after, Belfin Island became under Bloodsail, and by proxy Falrevere, control once more. No alerts were given to the Royal Navy, nor has any action been taken against Tirassian, or human Alliance forces since then. The exception being merchant ships of any type. On most maps, the island is left only as a black mark as if it were just an oversized rock to be avoided. However, in recent years, Jedediah Tidesdale has become more unruly and unwilling to accept direct orders, threatening to reveal the Island's deeds through raised flags and refusal to listen to anyone but Falrevere himself as an excuse to grab more independence. The two remaining noble houses, Wavepride and Crestrine, have urged Jedediah into betraying the Buccaneers after their failed assault on Booty Bay, declaring themselves independant, flying their own banner, and becoming at war with their former allies. As such, their faction, the Duskcrest Corsairs, has also been made indepedent and taken to attacking any ship they can. After the Westerns Seas Campaign, Belfin Isle was sieged by Bloodsail Admiral Thadren Boone, though he perished before the island was successfully taken. His men, now named the Duskbreaker Privateers, shifted over to his close friend Sir Thomas Balamont DeFortiere. Jedediah Tidesdale perished in the final battle against the ''Dusken Victory, ''though his sisters, Martena and Jalean, and cousin, Marena Wavepride, survived as captives, as well as Lord Furio Crestrine -- although he died in the Reclamation of Blackburn . There is currently no Lord of Belfin Island. Present Day and Penal Status Belfin's resources were predominantly located within the thick marsh that poured out over Haelin and Tidehaven, which most Gilneans were unable to effectively navigate. Without Crestfallian-tier experience with swamps, these were largely kept away, due to the heavy imprisonment of remaining soldiers and Pro-Tidesdale terrorists. With many of its former shops and offices being converted to prisons already, murderers, rapists, and overflow prisoners were all deported from the Duchy and other parts of Gilneas to Belfin Isle for the whole of their sentence. Still being run by the Duskbreaker Privateers, the penalty would otherwise be lenient had it not been run by payed thugs -- mostly Bloodsail in origin. This was intention on the part of Belfin's management as a colony of the Ashen Coast. Near a year later, Haelin's houses began to be bought-out to confine even more prisoners. Eventually, what remained of the "Fang-Breakers", a terrorist cell that ran the majority of the attacks against the Blades, began sending their less-known members to join the Duskbreakers. By now more of a test for new recruits anyway, the prisoner-rebellion, which took near a year to properly put into place, began with the murder of all prisoners who went against them -- an extreme minority -- and the rearming of all others. Many commoners flocked to their side as well, protected by the Fang-Breaker hierarchy from the foreign convicts. This caused the Duskbreakers and other Blades men to be pushed out of Haelin entirely, fighting to keep control on the former Upper Echelon -- now used for management by Duskbreaker higher-ups -- while the rich who weren't imprisoned are greatly mistrusted by both the Blades and Duskbreaker officials. Appearance Valuable for its silver and lead mines, Belfin Island's nobility lived in fortifactions built into the mountainous area behind the main village, Tidehaven, and overlooked their peasants near all day. Despite its rank, the island is as small as Vulpin and even more uninhabitable, a high swamp sitting above the carved out front surface which pours down into multiple rivers, until filtering out into the sea. There is no known settlements on the upper levels of the island, only visited by hunters and outlaws. Tidehaven its self is largely a circle of enclosed water, a few towers popping out of the water, rotten and wood-eaten, though the echelons remain beautiful. A flooded stone stairway leads up to the upper swamp which has been captured by the Bloodsail Buccaneers, making a "Holdfast" out of sharpened logs near the exit. Category:Places Category:Islands Category:Bloodsail Buccaneers Category:Headlands Territory